City, Schools Find Common Ground in Land-Use Plan

Vacant except for some crops and a produce stand, the 36-acre field across from City Hall has long fueled an edgy tension between city leaders and school district officials.

Now, the district-owned lot at the northeast corner of Tapo Canyon Road and Alamo Street could become a source of harmony.

It could one day boast senior citizen housing, luxury apartments, single-family homes, some office buildings and upscale shops and restaurants. The site might even host a welcome addition to the city’s civic center: classy new headquarters for the Simi Valley Unified School District.

Those lofty land-use concepts are outlined in a pre-screening application for a General Plan amendment that the Simi Valley Unified School District submitted to the city Wednesday afternoon.

“It’s time to put something on the table and see if it will fly,” said district Trustee Carla Kurachi. “If not, we probably need to sell the property. There’s a strong real estate market now but that could change, so there are a lot of risks to consider.”

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The conceptual plans will be presented to the City Council on Jan. 26 for public comment and an initial thumbs up or down.

From there, Simi Unified would decide whether to sell the land to developers--or perhaps form partnerships with them--before submitting more detailed plans and environmental documents.

Over the course of nine months to a year, the development would be considered by the Planning Commission and then the City Council before construction could begin.

Simi Valley Mayor Greg Stratton predicted his colleagues would like much--but not all--of the proposed development.

“I think the fact that the school district is looking to put their headquarters there is a step in the right direction,” he said. “One of the council’s concerns is going to be about design standards. . . . We don’t just want some plain old building. We would want something that would look like a nice office building.”

The idea of single-family homes, tasteful shops that complement the civic center and senior citizen housing is appealing, he said. But the mayor predicted that apartments--even high-end ones--could be a hard sell with traffic-wary neighbors.

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On its surface, the proposed development appears to have something for everyone:

* City leaders would finally complete their coveted civic center at the intersection, which already houses City Hall, the library, the East County Court House and a Department of Motor Vehicles branch across from a shopping center. Also planned at the intersection are a 16-screen movie theater, a Kaiser-Permanente medical center and a new, $12.7-million police station.

* In the development deal, the school district stands to make between $10 million and $15 million--maybe more--to repair aging schools and boost technology, according to a consultant’s estimate.

* Project neighbors, meanwhile, would not suffer the burden of living next to 26 acres of shops and businesses--as proposed by the school district in the early 1990s. The City Council summarily shot down that earlier proposal, leaving the district and a developer in the lurch.

“I don’t think we have proposed anything outlandish,” Kurachi said. “We respect the position the City Council is in. They also have to look at community needs. It’s a hard balancing act.”

Tensions arose previously when the school district expected special treatment from the city, Stratton said.

“The problem is when they say, ‘We should be able to build something that doesn’t make sense, because the money goes to a good cause,’ ” he said. “I think that attitude has changed. They’re acting as a developer and we’re trying to work with them as a developer to bring about something that will be good for the community.”

This time around, the school district wants to solicit plenty of community comment early in the planning process, said consultant Eric Taylor, senior vice president of VTN West in Van Nuys.

“The school district needs to work with surrounding residents to make sure their needs are met,” he said. “Their input is critical.”

The school district originally planned to build a high school on the 36 acres. But taxpayers refused to foot the bill, so other uses were considered.